Are bicyclists required or expected to permit motorists to violate the law?
Passing within 3 feet is of course a violation now in Florida. As someone who spent 20 years hugging the white line, and the past 10 riding more assertively, and has been passed by probably a million motorists in his lifetime, it’s obvious to me that hugging the edge invites close passing while lane control does not.
Here’s another illustration to show the dangers of having a large group ride single-file along the edge. Thanks to Keri Caffrey for the truck & trailer illustration.
And if a cyclist is hit in such a scenario, count on the driver claiming the cyclist “swerved into me; there was nothing I could do,” and the officer going along with it.
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E-mails are flying and cycling forums are full of the story of the Town of Jupiter (FL) considering passage of a local code limiting the size of cycling groups. As often happens when reactionary minds get together, the proposed law goes too far, requiring nonsense such as bells and “safety” flags on bikes, and it seems to limit the ability for solo cyclists to drive as defensively as State law allows.
Responses from local cycling groups has also been disappointing. The more vocal folks seem to believe the solution is for everyone to ride single file and hug the edge of the road. For years now I have been arguing that the problem with groups rides in Florida is primarily group size. But few if any of the clubs and groups seem willing to try reducing group size.
Keeping the same size groups and going single file along the edge will not solve the problem, and it may make things worse.
Cyclists ride two abreast because humans are naturally social animals. The desire to ride side-by-side and talk to somebody will create constant tension between those attempting to keep everyone single-file and those who just want to enjoy the ride.
Long, single-file pacelines are inherently squirrelly at the end, and dropping back after a pull takes quite a while with a big group, so there will often be at least one rider outside the line.
Hugging the edge invites motorists to pass when it’s not safe to do so. They will squeeze by within the lane (many rural roads have lanes of 10 or 11 feet wide), and in many cases pass closer than three feet.
The problem isn’t cyclists “riding in the middle of the lane;” it’s cyclists making it difficult for motorists to pass by choosing to travel in large packs. Larger groups leads to other problems, too.
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I’m not quite sure where people get those all-or-nothing attitudes when it comes to cycling. I’m continually amazed at how many people immediately start up with “Americans aren’t going to give up their cars” when bicycle transportation is brought up.
Similarly, many cyclists (and motorists who seem to revel in hanging out in cycling-related comment boards) seem to think lane control (aka “Taking the Lane,” aka “Commanding the Lane,” aka “Riding in the Middle of the Road,” aka “Impeding Traffic,” aka “Getting in the Way of the Important People in Cars”) is an all-or-nothing proposition. As though lane control proponents do nothing but ride in the middle of every lane.
Of course that’s not the case. We control the lane when it’s prudent; when keeping right will invite motorists to squeeze by dangerously close, when intersection conflicts are an issue, when pavement is bad, when we’re going as fast as other traffic, and in a variety of other situations.
I and others describe a lane that is too narrow to share as less than 14 feet wide. (By the way, it’s not just us arrogant lane control advocates who say this; FDOT does, too. See Florida Green Book, page 211.) But there are situations in which a narrower lane might be shareable; particularly when motorist speeds are low. One of the many benefits of lane control is that it slows motorists down so that they can pass safely. While many cyclists like to tout Florida’s 3-foot law (motorists are required to give at least three feet of space when passing a bicyclist), many of us are comfortable with closer passes when motorists are going only a few miles per hour faster than we are (but want more than 3 feet when speeds are high!). I’m happy with 2 feet when cars are doing 20 mph and the pavement is good.
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A (rather long) essay reflecting on the book Fighting Traffic by Peter D. Norton (MIT Press, 2008)
The street is an extremely important symbol because your whole enculturation experience is geared around keeping you out of the street. “Just remember: Look left, look right, look left again… No ball games… Don’t talk to strangers… Keep out of the road.” The idea is to keep everyone indoors. So, when you come to challenge the powers that be, inevitably you find yourself on the curbstone of indifference, wondering “should I play it safe and stay on the sidewalks, or should I go into the street?” And it is the ones who are taking the most risks that will ultimately effect the change in society.
The car system steals the street from under us and sells it back for the price of gasoline. It privileges time over space, corrupting and reducing both to an obsession with speed or, in economic lingo, “turnover.” It doesn’t matter who “drives” this system, for its movements are already pre-determined.
– from the website of the (now defunct) London advocacy group “Take Back the Streets”
* * * * *
Imagine you are a member of the majority, and a powerful minority has managed to get the laws changed in such a way as to significantly curtail one of your essential liberties. What’s more, they then proceeded to abuse your remaining rights and make your life miserable. As a result, a couple decades later, your majority has become a minority.
There’s no need to imagine. This is what happened to pedestrians (and to a lesser extent bicyclists) in these United States in the 1920s.
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This story at MSNBC illustrates how many in the media have a huge blind spot — or in keeping with my title theme, are tone deaf — regarding traffic crashes.
This story made the news of course because bystanders did nothing, but it ignores the more common problem.
The subtitle reads:
“He was mostly ignored by witnesses after accident in Conn.”
Down the page a few paragraphs is this quote from the son of the crash victim:
“You know people keep calling it an accident,” Arce said Tuesday. “It was not an accident. It was a crime.”
And he is absolutely right. The motorists were passing illegally, and neither of them stopped. This crash was not an “accident.” It was a crime even if the drivers hadn’t fled the scene.
I try not to think conspiratorially; I don’t think the subhead is intentionally misleading. They’re just fully immersed in the automotive culture. The “real crimes” in their eyes seems to be that the drivers left the scene and the bystanders did nothing. But as for the wrong-way driving resulting in the striking of an elderly man? “Hey. Stuff happens. What can we say?”
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Not-so-Smart Car
The item on all the major news outlets today is the new crash test report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Now IIHS does some good work, so I don’t want to slam them. Really, they’re just echoing the culture with this report.
Of course: people in smaller cars don’t fare well in crashes with bigger vehicles. Duh. Neither do motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians.
The approach to safety in this country is virtually all about how to reduce the impact on yourself and your family; rarely on how you might reduce your impact on others.
Perhaps instead of a headline like Small Cars Rate Poorly in New Crash Tests, we could once in a while see one like Larger Vehicles Cause More Serious Injuries and Deaths in Crashes.
Oh, but we knew that already too, didn’t we? I guess we just don’t like to be reminded.
Better yet, how about this headline: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Finds Bicyclists, Pedestrians Have Virtually No Impact on Others.
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Tags:
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